Drought relief talks heat up -- Court sides with COOL, again -- NCBA: House bill would rein in ESA

DROUGHT RELIEF TALKS HEAT UP: “Senate and House staff are working furiously to reach compromises on two bills that take widely different approaches to address the drought crippling farmers and ranchers in California and other western states,” Pro Agriculture’s Bill Tomson reports.

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“Sen. Dianne Feinstein told POLITICO Tuesday that a redrafted version of the drought relief bill she sponsored, the Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014 (S 2198), has been sent to the Republican-controlled House for consideration with hopes that the changes will get approval and speed up the process of producing a single piece of legislation that both bodies of Congress can pass.

“The Senate passed its drought relief bill back on May 22, more than three months after the House passed its bill, but a conference committee has yet to be called. The behind-closed-doors approach has been necessary to speed up the process, a Hill staffer explained. Pros can read the rest of Tomson’s story here: http://politico.pro/1nSbBPL

GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Morning Ag where we are pretty impressed with Rep. Jeff Denham’s vegetable birthday cake: http://bit.ly/1nF4SaP (and, of course, Rep. John Dingell’s use of hashtags). However, given the option, we would go for Rep. Diana DeGette’s pecan and berry pies: http://bit.ly/WM5Zvg. Happy birthday congressmen! You know the deal: thoughts, news, tips, invites to Capitol Hill birthday celebrations? Send them to jhopkinson@politico.com or @ jennyhops. Follow us @ Morning_Ag and @ POLITICOPro.

COURT SIDES WITH COOL, AGAIN: The decision Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to uphold the Agriculture Department’s country-of-origin labeling rules for meat looks to “disembowel” court precedent and put “crony capitalism or ideological arm-twisting” ahead of first amendment rights.

But that’s just what one of the two dissenting judges had to say about it.

The nine judges who ruled in favor of USDA’s controversial COOL rules say instead, that the government has a “substantial” interest in requiring meat processors to label where livestock was born, raised and slaughtered, including food safety concerns. And thus, the USDA’s rules are not compelled speech in violation of the First Amendment, as the meat processing industry has charged. The decision is the third by a group of judges to favor COOL, including an earlier three-judge panel ruling within the same court.

DON’T BREAK OUT THE PARTY HATS: The celebration for COOL supporters might be short lived, however, as the office of the United State Trade Representative confirms that it has received a final World Trade Organization ruling on a fair trade challenge filed against COOL by Mexico and Canada. The WTO ruling has yet to be made public, but the speculation is that the ruling does not bode well for USDA. The full story for Pros is available here: http://politico.pro/1n031bL

NCBA: HOUSE BILL WOULD REIN IN ESA: The House voted, 233 to 190, mostly along party lines, Tuesday to require additional reporting by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service before they can declare animal species to be endangered — a designation that affords species extra protection from farmers and land developers. The 21st Century Endangered Species Transparency Act (HR 4315) would force government agencies to track and make public all of the data used to make decisions under the Endangered Species Act as well as put new caps on how much the agencies can spend on attorneys’ fees to defend ESA designations.

A big supporter of the measure is the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, which describes ESA as “ineffective” and “immensely damaging to our members’ ability to stay in business.”

“Environmental activist groups have a habit of suing the federal government to force the listing of a species, then suing to prevent species delisting, even after recovery goals have been met,” says Bob McCan, NCBA’s president. “Their legal expenses are often reimbursed by the American taxpayer. By comprehensively tracking all costs associated with the ESA and capping the attorney fees, we can limit the incentive those groups have to file suit and keep the federal agencies accountable for the taxpayer dollars being spent.”

EWG PULLS IN OUTSIDE LOBBYIST: The Environmental Working Group has hired the lobbying firm Bracewell and Giuliani to help the group make its case to lawmakers on GMO labeling, cosmetics issues and EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard. The lobbying registrations, which were filed Tuesday in both chambers, went into effect on April 1, 2014. EWG spent $226,788 lobbying in the first two quarters of 2014 with it’s in-house lobbyist, Scott Faber, serving as the group’s senior vice president for government affairs, according to disclosure records. Legislation pertaining to the labeling of genetically modified foods, safe cosmetics and sunscreen bills, EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard and chemicals law reform are listed as the group’s major lobbying interests. The disclosure reports are avialbale here: http://1.usa.gov/1touewJ

POSSIBLE TYSON-HILLSHIRE MERGER DRAWS FIRE: Farm groups and consumer advocates are speaking out about the proposed merger between Tyson Foods and Hillshire Brands Co., claiming the deal, if approved, would likely impact consumers adversely. In June, Food & Water Watch published an argument for why the Department of Justice should block the merger, citing how much market share and influence it would hand to Tyson, already the largest meat company in the nation. On Tuesday, the president of the National Farmers Union, Roger Johnson, published an op-ed in The Huffington Post warning about the pitfalls of a handful of companies — which he called "the Meat Barons” — having too much sway. You can read the op-ed here: http://huff.to/1qJ6hjT

EU REAFFIRMS FOOD DYE SAFETY AHEAD OF FDA: Pro Agriculture’s Helena Bottemiller Evich has the scoop: “Just as the FDA is about to release a look at how much food dye Americans are consuming, European food safety officials are reaffirming the safety of several controversial synthetic chemicals used to make fruit snacks, sports drinks and cereals pop with bright colors. Next month, FDA scientists are expected to presenta summary of a new exposure assessment on color additives used in the U.S. at the American Chemistry Society meeting in San Francisco.” The full story is available here: http://politico.pro/1oHEugM.

GMO HIT LIST STIRS CONTROVERSY: GMO advocates, critics and food journalists are asking a lot of questions about a NaturalNews.com-linked hit list that was posted online last week comparing GMO-friendly news organizations and individuals to Nazis and suggesting they should be assassinated. Forbes, National Geographic, Modern Farmer, Forbes and MIT Technology Review were listed, among others. The site has since been taken down, but it has led to rampant speculation about who posted it and why. The prime suspect, according to bloggers, is Mike Adams, who has been described as an outlandish “health ranger” who blogs at NaturalNews.com, which claims 7 million views a month. Adams has denied the charge, accusing pro-GMO interests of posting the site as a “false flag” operation.

Jon Entine, executive director and writer at the Genetic Literacy Project, reported Monday that the FBI is investigating the matter after being “besieged by complaints from targets and the science and journalism communities.” However, POLITICO was unable to confirm the claim. FBI spokesperson Kelly M. Kleinvachter said there was no record of such an investigation. Read more on the controversy from Modern Farmer here: http://bit.ly/1pp7tVP Entine’s post is here: http://bit.ly/1AvFh9w

NLRB RULES MCDONALD’S JOINTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR FRANCHISE WORKERS: The National Labor Relations Board ruled yesterday that McDonald’s is jointly responsible for how workers are treated at franchisee-owned locations, which represent some 90 percent of the company’s restaurants. The ruling, seen as bolstering union organizing and efforts to boost wages at fast food restaurants, sparked some harsh reaction from industry groups.

"The long-established joint-employer standard has helped create millions of restaurant jobs through the franchisor/franchisee model. NLRB’s attempts to overhaul the law will have dire consequences to franchisees, franchise employees, and the economy as a whole,” said Angelo Amador, vice president of labor and workforce policy at the National Restaurant Association in a statement. Amador argues that the ruling will “impede entrepreneurship and restaurant’ ability to create jobs, particularly in an increasingly challenging economic environment.” He adds: “The NLRB’s change to the joint-employer standard is the latest example of a federal agenda aligned against small businesses.”

AND THE AWARD GOES TO…: The Cheesecake Factory, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Famous Dave’s and Joe’s Crab Shack have all landed on the Center For Science in the Public Interests’ list of calorie-packed meals as part of it’s Xtreme Eating Awards announced today. Almost all of the items on the list topped 2,000 calories, with some floating around 3,000, a shift from when the list started in 2007, CSPI said in a statement. At that time many items were around 1,500 calories. The list of meals is available here: http://politico.pro/1s2HW5O

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About The Author

Before joining POLITICO, she spent three years at Inside Washington Publishers reporting on the EPA with a focus on chemicals policy, pesticides and water issues. Prior to that, Hopkinson was a reporter for The (Salisbury, Md.) Daily Times where she followed local governments as they tackled falling tax revenues and stagnating rural development, in addition to playing almost every mini-golf course in Ocean City, Md., in the name of a feature story.

Hopkinson earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Maryland. She lives in Washington, D.C.